Muadh Ibn Jabal

Muadh ibn Jabal was a young man growing up in
Yathrib as the light of guidance and truth began to spread
over the Arabian peninsula. He was a handsome and
Imposing character with black eyes and curly hair and
immediately impressed whoever he met. He was already
distinguished for the sharpness of his intelligence among
young men of his own age.

The young Muadh became a Muslim at the hands of
Musiab ibn Umayr, the da'iy (missionary) whom the
Prophet had sent to Yathrib before the hijrah. Muadh was
among the seventy-two Yathribites who journeyed to
Makkah, one year before the hijrah, and met the Prophet at
his house and later again in the valley of Mina, outside
Makkah, at Aqabah. Here the famous second Aqabah
Pledge was made at which the new Muslims of Yathrib,
including some women, vowed to support and defend the
Prophet at any cost. Muadh was among those who
enthusiastically clasped the hands of the blessed Prophet
then and pledged allegiance to him.

As soon as Muadh returned to Madinah from Makkah,
he and a few others of his age formed a group to remove
and destroy idols from the houses of the mushrikeen in
Yathrib. One of the effects of this campaign was that a
prominent man of the city, Amr ibn al-Jumuh, became a
Muslim .

When the noble Prophet reached Madinah, Muadh ibn
Jabal stayed in his company as much as possible. He
studied the Qur'an and the laws of Tslam until he became
one of the most well-versed of all the companions in the
religion of Islam.

Wherever Muadh went, people would refer to him for
legal judgements on matters over which they differed. This
is not strange since he was brought up in the school of the
Prophet himself and learnt as much as he could from him.
He was the best pupil of the best teacher. His knowledge
bore the stamp of authenticity. The best certificate that he
could have received came from the Prophet himself when
he said:

"The most knowledgeable of my ummah in matters of
halal and haram is Muadh ibn Jabal."

One of the greatest of Muadh's contributions to the
ummah of Muhammad was that he was one of the group
of six who collected the Qur'an during the lifetime of the
Prophet, peace be upon him. Whenever a group of
companions met and Muadh was among them, they would
look at him with awe and respect on account of his
knowledge. The Prophet and his two Khalifahs after him
placed this unique gift and power in the service of Islam.

After the liberation of Makkah, the Quraysh became
Muslims en masse. The Prophet immediately saw the need
of the new Muslims for teachers to instruct them in the
fundamentals of Islam and to make them truly understand
the spirit and letter of its laws. He appointed Attab ibn
Usay as his deputy in Makkah and he asked Muadh ibn
Jabal to stay with him and teach people the Qur'an and
instruct them in the religion.

Sometime after the Prophet had returned to Madinah,
messengers of the kings of Yemen came to him
announcing that they and the people of Yemen had
become Muslims. They requested that some teachers
should be with them to teach Islam to the people. For this
task the Prophet commissioned a group of competent
du'at (missionaries) and made Muadh ibn Jabal their amir.
He then put the following question to Muadh:

"According to what will you judge?"

"According to the Book of God," replied Muadh.

"And if you find nothing therein?"

"According to the Sunnah of the Prophet of God."

"And if you find nothing therein?"

"Then I will exert myself (exercise ijtEhad) to form n
own judgement." The Prophet was pleased with this reply
and said:

"Praise be to God Who has guided the messenger of the
Prophet to that which pleases the Prophet."

The Prophet personally bade farewell to this mission of
guidance and light and walked for some distance
alongside Muadh as he rode out of the city. Finally he
said to him:

"O Muadh, perhaps you shall not meet me again after
this year. Perhaps when you return you shall see only my
mosque and my grave."

Muadh wept. Those with him wept too. A feeling of
sadness and desolation overtook him as he parted from his
beloved Prophet, peace and blessings of God be on him.

The Prophet's premonition was correct. The eyes of
Muadh never beheld the Prophet after that moment. The
Prophet died before Muadh returned from the Yemen.
There is no doubt that Muadh wept when he returned to
Madinah and found there was no longer the blessed
company of the Prophet.

During the caliphate of Umar, Muadh was sent to the
Banu Kilab to apportion their stipends and to distribute
the sadaqah of their richer folk among the poor. When he
had done his duty, he returned to his wife with his saddle
blanket around his neck, empty handed, and she asked
him:

"Where are the gifts which commissioners return with
for their families?"

"I had an alert Supervisor who was checking over me,"
he replied.

"You were a trusted person with the messenger of God
and with Abu Bakr. Then Umar came and he sent a
supervisor with you to check on you!" she exclaimed. She
went on to talk about this to the women of Umar's
household and complained to them about it. The
complaint eventually reached Umar, so he summoned
Muadh and said:

"Did I send a supervisor with you to check on you?"

"No, Amir al-Mu'mineen," he said, "But that was the
only reason I could find to give her." Umar laughed and
then gave him a gift, saying,

"I hope this pleases you."

Also during the caliphate of Umar, the governor of
Syria, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan sent a message saying:

"O Amir al-Mu'mineen! The people of Syria are many.
They fill the towns. They need people to teach them the
Qur'an and instruct them in the religion."

Umar thereupon summoned five persons who had
collected the Qur'an in the lifetime of the Prophet, peace
be upon him. They were Muadh ibn Jabal, 'Ubadah ibn
asSamit, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Abu
adDardaa. He said to them:

"Your brothers in Syria have asked me to help them by
sending those who can teach them the Qur'an and instruct
them in the religion. Please appoint three among you for
this task and may God bless you. I can select three of you
myself if you do not want to put the matter to the vote."

"Why should we vote?" they asked. "Abu Ayyub is quite
old and Ubayy is a sick man. That leaves three of us."

"All three of you go to Homs first of all. If you are
satisfied with the condition of the people there, one of you
should stay there, another should go to Damascus and the
other to Palestine."

So it was that 'Ubadah ibn as-Samit was left at Homs,
Abu ad-Dardaa went to Damascus and Muadh went to
Palestine. There Muadh fell ill with an infectious disease.
As he was near to death, he turned in the direction of the
Ka'bah and repeated this refrain:

"Welcome Death, Welcome.
A visitor has come after a long absence . . ."

And looking up to heaven, he said:

"O Lord, You know that I did not desire the world and
to prolong my stay in it . . . O Lord, accept my soul with
goodness as you would accept a believing soul . . ."

He then passed away, far from his family and his clan, a
da'iy in the service of God and a muhajEr in His path.